UK asks for time to fix Brexit debacle
EU leaders are preparing to hold an emergency summit next week should it be required to avoid a disorderly Brexit, following another day of chaos in Westminster.
Amid growing frustration across Europe at the mounting crisis in London, British prime minister Theresa May stands humiliated, having been forced to formally request a three-month extension from EU leaders to avoid a no-deal scenario.
Ms May yesterday formally wrote to European Council president Donald Tusk requesting the exit day on March 29 be postponed until June 30.
She delivered an aggressive attack on her colleagues at Westminster both in the House of Commons and on television last night, laying the blame squarely on MPs for forcing the delay.
Speaking on the 1,000th day since the 2016 referendum, Ms May delivered an ill-tempered attack on MPs for forcing the delay.
“It is high time we made a decision. So far, parliament has done everything possible to avoid making a choice. Motion after motion and amendment after amendment have been tabled without parliament ever deciding what it wants.
“All MPs have been willing to say is what they do not want. I passionately hope MPs will find a way to back the deal I have negotiated with the EU,” she said.
Ms May, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and other European leaders will today gather in Brussels in a last-ditch bid to avoid a disorderly Brexit on March 29.
A “short” delay to Brexit will be possible, provided the British parliament approves Theresa May’s deal, Mr Tusk said.
“In the light of the consultations that I have conducted over the past days, I believe that a short extension would be possible. But it would be conditional on a positive vote on the Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons,” he told reporters. “The question remains open as to the duration of such an extension,” he added.
Mr Tusk indicated that it should be possible for leaders of the remaining EU 27 to approve his plan at a summit in the Belgian capital starting today, but said patience is wearing thin.
“Even if the hope for final success may seem frail, even illusory, and although Brexit fatigue is increasingly visible and justified, we cannot give up seeking until the very last moment a positive solution — of course without opening up the Withdrawal Agreement,” he said.
Mr Tusk said he would call an emergency summit next week, if required.
“However, if there is such a need, I will not hesitate to invite the members of the European Council for a meeting to Brussels next week,” he said.
Mr Varadkar has said it is time to cut the British government some slack in order to allow them to avoid a crash-out Brexit.
Speaking in Dublin, Mr Varadkar said when he arrives in Brussels for the EU summit, he will be arguing that Ms May be given some space to seek to get approval for her deal.
“There is a real risk that we wish to avoid — of no-deal happening by accident despite people’s best intentions,” he said.
It’s time now to cut them some slack, to cut the British government some slack, when it comes to their request for an extension and when it comes to their request that the Strasbourg Agreement be ratified formally by the European Council over the next two days.
He added that his Government was willing to support both requests, but that it was “not entertaining any change to the Withdrawal Agreement or the backstop”.
An agreement on such an extension is not certain however, as France, Spain and Belgium are ready to veto a Brexit extension. Some member states worry there is no point to an extension as, even after 1,000 days of negotiation, Ms May’s deal keeps being rejected and the EU cannot move any further towards the UK.
